Right now, more than 78,000 Minnesota teens use tobacco. There are a number of ways you can help protect our kids—all while working to save 6,300 lives and $7 billion in excess health care costs and lost productivity in Minnesota each year. Here’s how you can help us Stop the Start:

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Let’s Do More

Tobacco control programs are working, but there’s still work to be done.

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It’s up to us to stop the harm from smoking in our state.

Preying On Kids

Big Tobacco knows if they don’t addict smokers by age 18, they probably never will.

How Far We’ve Come

Fewer teens think smoking is cool.

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More than 26 percent of high-schoolers use tobacco. Up seven percent from 2014.

Minnesota Department of Health. Teens and Tobacco in Minnesota: Highlights from the 2017 Youth Tobacco Survey.

90% of smokers start by age 18.

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Results from the 2010 National Survey on Drug Use and Health: Summary of National Findings. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration – Center for Behavioral Health Statistics and Quality; September 2014.

LET’S DO MORE

More than 26 percent of high-schoolers use tobacco. Up 7 percent from 2014.

Minnesota Department of Health. Teens and Tobacco in Minnesota: Highlights from the 2017 Youth Tobacco Survey.

More than 60 percent of students who use tobacco smoke, vape or chew candy, fruit and menthol flavors.

Minnesota Department of Health. Teens and Tobacco in Minnesota: Highlights from the 2017 Youth Tobacco Survey.

When it comes to menthol cigarettes in particular, teen smokers are more likely to use them than adult smokers.

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Preventing Tobacco Use Among Youth and Young Adults: A Report of the Surgeon General. 2012.

If we make flavored cigars and chewing tobacco, along with menthol cigarettes solely available in adults-only tobacco shops, we could reduce the number of teens using those products and getting hooked on nicotine.

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Preventing Tobacco Use Among Youth and Young Adults: A Report of the Surgeon General. 2012.

Gemma JL (RJR Tobacco). Memorandum from JL Gemma, Marketing Development Department to Marketing Development Department Committee at RJ Reynolds Tobacco Co. Aug 16. 1985.

Almost 95 percent of addicted adult smokers start before age 21.

75 percent of American adults, including 70 percent of current smokers, support raising the age to buy tobacco to 21.

Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota, Minnesota Tobacco Tax Study by Decision Resources, Ltd. Dec. 2012.

In Minnesota, raising the age to 21 could keep smoking away from 30,000 Minnesota kids over the next 15 years.

Boyle, Raymond. Tobacco 21: A life-saving opportunity we can’t afford to miss. MinnPost. February 20, 2017.

Every 10 percent increase in the price of tobacco reduces the number of youth who smoke by 5 percent and keeps another 10 percent from ever starting.

Chaloupka FJ, et al. The impact of price on youth tobacco use. Smoking and Tobacco Control Monograph, No. 14. 2001.

The Minnesota Youth Tobacco survey showed that less than 10 percent of high-schoolers smoke cigarettes.

Minnesota Department of Health. Teens and Tobacco in Minnesota: Highlights from the 2017 Youth Tobacco Survey.

Smoking results in Minnesota spending $1.65 billion in health care costs.

Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. New Revenues, Public Health Benefits & Cost Savings From a $1.50 Cigarette Tax Increase in Minnesota. Jan 2013.

2,500 Minnesota kids become new daily smokers each year.

CTFK: U.S. Dept of Health and Human Services (HHS), “Results from the 2016 National Survey on Drug Use and Health,” with the state share of national initiation number based on CDC data on future youth smokers in each state compared to national total.

In 2015, Minnesota spent just 42 percent of what CDC recommends for an effective program.

U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Best Practices for Comprehensive Tobacco Control Programs – 2014. Atlanta: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2014.

Minnesota Management and Budget, Consolidated Fund Statement, Budgetary Basis, 2017 November Forecast, January 11, 2018.

Smoking costs Minnesota $3 billion in excess health care costs each year and more than 6,300 lives.

Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota. Health Care Costs and Smoking in Minnesota. January 2017.

GET INVOLVED

78,000 Minnesota teens use tobacco.

Minnesota Department of Health. Teens and Tobacco in Minnesota: Highlights from the 2017 Youth Tobacco Survey.

PREYING ON KIDS

Nearly all smokers start by the time they’re 18.

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Preventing Tobacco Use Among Youth and Young Adults: A Report of the Surgeon General. 2012.

The tobacco industry spends more than $100 million a year on marketing in Minnesota alone.

Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids. State-specific estimates of tobacco company marketing expenditures 1998 to 2014 2016.

Nationally, 80 percent of kids who use tobacco use fruit, candy or menthol flavored tobacco.

Ambrose BK, et al., Flavored tobacco product use among U.S. youth aged 12-17 Years, 2013-2014. JAMA. 2015.

Minnesota has seen a nearly 50 percent surge in high-school students using e-cigarettes.

Minnesota Department of Health. Teens and Tobacco in Minnesota: Highlights from the 2017 Youth Tobacco Survey.

Almost 40 percent of high-school students have tried e-cigarettes.

Minnesota Department of Health. Teens and Tobacco in Minnesota: Highlights from the 2017 Youth Tobacco Survey.

Nicotine is addictive and can harm the adolescent brain.

The Health Consequences of Smoking—50 Years of Progress: A Report of the Surgeon General. 2014.

Among Minnesota teen smokers, 34 percent report smoking menthols.

Minnesota Department of Health. Teens and Tobacco in Minnesota: Highlights from the 2017 Youth Tobacco Survey. Smoking—50 Years of Progress: A Report of the Surgeon General. 2014.

Tobacco industry documents show efforts to market menthol products to African Americans, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer (LGBTQ) communities, and young people.

Yerger VB. Menthol’s potential effects on nicotine dependence: A tobacco industry perspective. Tobacco Control. 2011;20(Suppl. 2):ii29-ii36.and Reynolds R. Project SCUM. December 12,
1995 https://www.industrydocumentslibrary.ucsf.edu/tobacco/docs/#id=sfck0098

HOW FAR WE’VE COME

Fewer than 10 percent of high-schoolers smoke cigarettes – a 70 percent drop since 2000.

Minnesota Department of Health. Teens and Tobacco in Minnesota: Highlights from the 2017 Youth Tobacco Survey.